Dumbledore Was Just As Bad, If Not Worse, Than Voldemort

When the Basilisk begins to terrorize Hogwarts and petrify students left and right, Dumbledore doesn't lift a finger. One might assume an empathetic headmaster would close the school until they settle the animal control problem - or better yet, destroy the snake, but instead, he lets a group of second-year students take care of things for him. 

Once students start getting petrified, Lucius Malfoy calls for Dumbledore's suspension. It's the appropriate response when the headmaster of the school refuses to take action against something harming the students.

Perhaps the most damning critique of Dumbledore comes from his longtime confidant Snape, who accuses the wizard of essentially grooming Harry to die. There's a subset of the Harry Potter fandom believing this. 

If Dumbledore allowed Harry to die at a young age, he could have saved the lives of thousands, if not millions, in the Wizarding World. Instead, he allows Harry to mature and eventually sacrifice himself to kill Voldemort. 

Dumbledore lets Harry grow up as a Horcrux because he needed the Boy Who Lived to willingly give up his life while facing Voldemort, thus creating a similar protective spell like the one surrounding the Dursleys' home.

When Voldemort kills Harry, he destroys a piece of his soul, allowing Harry to come back to life and destroy Voldemort once and for all. This plan seems to rely heavily on luck, as well as a particular set of circumstances needed to fall into place for a satisfying payoff.

At the onset of the Harry Potter saga, Dumbledore commits one of the most heinous acts toward a child: he abandons it. The Headmaster of Hogwarts doesn't just leave baby Harry on a doorstep, either - he deposits him with the abusive and racist Dursleys. 

According to the story, Dumbledore leaves Harry on the Dursleys' front steps to invoke the magic of the bond of blood, which Petunia Dursley (Harry's aunt) seals when she accepts Harry into her home. However, this kind of magical hand-waving ignores the fact Dumbledore's main concern involves casting a decade-long spell instead of ensuring a child's safety.

Throughout much of the series, many considered Dumbledore as the greatest wizard at Hogwarts - and probably in the entire Wizarding World. Despite this, he rarely offers real help to Harry. He gives a few vague platitudes and house points, but aside from those, Dumbledore is a relatively innocuous presence.

However, by Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore completely blows off Harry. He's even downright rude to his protégé once things go south at Hogwarts. As always, Dumbledore had his reasons for being awful, but in this situation, he really should have said something to the boy. 

In Goblet of Fire, Harry is 14 years old, which is three years younger than the minimum age of admittance for the Triwizard Tournament. Regardless, he gets in as a fourth surprise entrant. After discarding Harry's name from the Goblet, Dumbledore questions Harry about whether or not he entered his name. Harry denies doing so, and the headmaster drops the questioning, allowing him to participate in a deadly series of challenges.

Putting aside the fact Dumbledore was in the middle of violent magical intrigue for much of his adult life, the previous three school years ended with various Voldemort accomplices attacking Harry. Does Dumbledore not think something's amiss? Instead of looking into who placed Harry's name in the Goblet, he does nothing, resulting in Cedric Diggory's death. 

The concept of Horcruxes - objects Voldemort used to retain immortality and conceal parts of his soul - comes up late in the Harry Potter series. Obviously, the topic isn't something an adult wizard would want to spring on a child. However, after Harry faced death consistently for three or four years, he probably would've appreciated learning he's connected to Voldemort via a piece of the evil wizard's soul. 

While Harry knows about his death from the end of Order of the Phoenix, he is unaware of his having to die until the end of Deathly Hallows. No matter how brave Harry is, he's likely not ready to die, contrary to Dumbledore's presumed goal. If Harry knows he's supposed to die in a battle, he may not sacrifice himself with such pure intentions, which is murky logic at best.